


Lonely Duet

by Ren_Luna



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Duet, Ficlet, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Music, One Shot, Piano, Pining, Sad, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 01:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30131700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ren_Luna/pseuds/Ren_Luna
Summary: "Ignis took a seat at the piano bench, spreading his fingers over the ivory keys. It had been so long since he had played the piano. The last time he could recall playing, he could still see the instrument in front of him. How many years had passed since he first played? How many years had it been since he had played with Noctis?"Ignis plays a duet that he once played with Noctis. The empty room echoes with the sound of a duet missing one of the musicians...
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Lonely Duet

Ignis took a seat at the piano bench, spreading his fingers over the ivory keys. It had been so long since he had played the piano. The last time he could recall playing, he could still see the instrument in front of him. How many years had passed since he first played? How many years had it been since he had played with Noctis? The thought of Noct caused his heart to ache.

The pair had taken piano lessons together when they were children. Noctis had stumbled across Ignis practicing when he was a child and Ignis never forgot the way Noct’s eyes lit up at the sight of him playing.

“Iggy, what’s _that?_ ” He had shouted excitedly.

“It’s a piano, Noct. I’m practicing before my lesson tomorrow,” Ignis had answered calmly, but it always brightened his day to see Noctis excited about anything.

“It’s so big! And you know how to play it? Show me, show me!”

That was how their lessons together began. Ignis loved playing for Noct. He always had; he just hadn’t admitted it. When they were in high school, Noctis had an unexpected request for Ignis.

“Hey Specs…will you play a duet with me?”

The question had made Ignis’s heart soar. Making music with Noctis? He had realized quite some time before that he was in love with Noctis, but never addressed it. He knew Noctis loved Lady Lunafreya, after all. Still, he would take whatever personal time they could have.

That was how their work on Debussy’s _Petite Suite_ began. It was a duet, meant for the two of them to play on a single piano. The pair had become rather talented (in Ignis’s less than humble opinion) since they were children who could barely reach the keys.

They practiced together for hours. Noctis, playing the part marked _Prima_ , sat on Ignis’s right. At times he struggled with the melodies (the speed of movement two, _Cortège,_ had given him quite a bit of trouble) but Ignis always supported him. It was always Ignis’s duty to be by Noct’s side to support him in all things; music was no exception.

Ignis smiled quietly as he sat on that piano bench, remembering all the time he had spent playing with Noct. They both had to quit playing once they left Insomnia, but Ignis thought about their performances of the _Petite Suite_ often. He missed playing piano with Noct. He missed _Noct_ – so much so that it hurt.

Could he still play? He pushed one of the keys. His ear told him that he was playing a C, right in the range he used to play in when he played the Debussy with Noct. After getting reacquainted with where his hands were in relation to the keys before him, Ignis took a deep breath.

“Are you ready, Noct?’ he whispered into the empty room.

Ignis began to play, a duet without a partner. The first movement, _En Bateau_ , had been one he loved. A dancelike feel to it, melody flowing from one musician to the other. He paused between movements. It was as if he could still feel Noct sitting beside him on that piano bench. Smiling slightly, he began the _Cortège_. This movement was light and joyful, quick and bright in its opening. The melody was filled with quick sixteenth-note flourishes. Ignis kept playing, the _Seconda_ part missing its _Prima_. Still, he played. In his mind’s eye, he was on a stage in Insomnia with Noct at his side.

The third movement, the _Menuet_. Another dance. Ignis had stumbled over the technical passages in this piece as well. The main motive passed from musician to musician. Ignis fumbled a few notes here and there, but his memory of what the score looked like was still remarkably clear. His music entwined with Noct’s was a dream come true. Could he hope to keep that dream alive when he sat at the piano bench alone?

Finally, Ignis had arrived at the _Ballet_. The dance only increased in intensity until the very end. When at last he stopped playing, he paused with his hands still over the piano keys. He was overcome with emotion, a sorrow cutting so deep his chest ached.

“Oh, Noct…” he murmured into the darkness. “I miss you, Noct. I miss making music together.”

He played the entire piece again, all the while imagining Noct’s part sounding alongside his own. The duet they had chosen was meant for four hands on one piano, after all. It brought the pair closer than they had ever been before. Ignis hoped that Noct had treasured that performance back in Insomnia as much as he had.

When Ignis finished his second playthrough of the Debussy, he stood to leave the room. His chest ached; all of the emotions he had ever felt around the piece seemed to hit him all at once. Playing that piece without his beloved had torn his heart in two. He barely made it a few steps away from the piano bench when he dropped to his knees, sobbing. That piece was _theirs_ ; it had always been theirs and now he was playing it alone. Like him, the music was incomplete. It was half of what it was meant to be and knowing that only made Ignis cry more.

He didn’t need his sight to make music. He needed Noct. All he wanted was for Noct to come back to him, to play the piano with him once more. That was impossible. Noct was gone and he wasn’t coming back. Once he had collected himself and stopped crying, Ignis left the room with the piano behind. He couldn’t play ever again, he decided. He couldn’t play without Noct.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I love the image of Ignis and Noctis sitting together at a piano...just as much as I love the image of Ignis playing as though Noct is still at his side.
> 
> Want to see more of my nonsense? Look [here!](https://twitter.com/Senpai_Why)


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